A joyrider dressed only in underpants had an amazing escape when a stolen car careered out of control and somersaulted into the side of a house.

The Honda Civic, which had sped away from police, spun out of control at a roundabout, hurtled across a petrol station forecourt, bounced off a wall and then catapulted across a road.

It flipped eight foot into the air and smashed into the gable end of a house before landing on the bonnet of the homeowner's car.

Emergency services called to the scene at Four Lane Ends, Hetton near Houghton-le-Spring last night, found the driver wearing only his underwear, sitting stunned in the mangled wreckage of the car which was perched on the homeowner's crushed vehicle.

Audrey Gulliver, 61, her husband Billy 68, their son Alan, 37, and his 12-year-old niece Samantha, were in the house when the crash happened.